[ACEC 2013] Africa is rising

(Back row, L-R): Peter Rorvik, Arterial Network secretary general; Erica Elk, ED Cape Craft and Design Institute; Mike van Graan, ED African Arts Institute; Aadel Essaadani, Arterial Network deputy chairperson. (Front row, L-R): Monica Newton, deputy director-general SA Department of Arts and Culture; Korkor Amarteifio, chairperson Arterial Network Africa; Anton Groenewald, executive director Tourism, Events and Marketing, City of Cape Town

At the same time, while there is no shortage of artistic talent on the continent, creative and cultural producers face formidable challenges when it comes to transforming opportunities into a sustainable and thriving creative economy.

As one speaker, Anver Versi, editor, African Business magazine, said: "The signs are that - barring a catastrophe - Africa will dominate the next century." Indeed, the figures tell a compelling story. Six of the world's fastest growing economies are in Africa. Forecast growth over coming years is around 5-6% across all 54 countries. With the world's youngest population, Africa has a vast future workforce. And mobile technology is presenting exciting opportunities that are creating new business models in many fields, from banking and micro-finance to health and education.

Growth in the creative sector

There are some equally encouraging signs of growth in the creative sector. According to the Creative Economy Report published in 2010 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), presented at the conference by Carolina Quintana, Facilitator for Partnerships and Networking in UNCTAD's Creative Economy Programme, the creative industries sector has been expanding in most regional economies. The Middle East has grown by 17.6% and Africa by 13.9%. North and Central America showed the least growth, at just 4.3%. The total value of world exports of creative goods reached $441bn in 2011, even when the global markets were in the throes of a deep recession. However, there is another side to the Africa Rising story.

The continent still faces formidable socio-economic challenges. African countries lag far behind in many development indicator rankings, with 48% of the sub-Saharan population living on $1.25 a day or below. This inevitably impacts on the creative economy. The value of African creative and cultural exports is just $2.3bn, less than 1% of the global total.

Long journey ahead

While the global economic slowdown has closed the export gap between developed and developing countries, China dominates the table of exports from the developing countries. It exports a third of the world's creative and cultural goods. In the context of China's dominance, it is clear that African cultural and creative producers have a long journey ahead to claim a definitive place in the global creative economy.

Delegates and speakers at the conference cited various factors that hinder economic development for creative entrepreneurs. These include inadequate infrastructure; unreliable transport networks; high costs for bureaucratic processes like obtaining visas; unfavourable export trade agreements for raw materials; and competition from high street brands expanding into emerging markets. The creative industries also face intangible obstacles such as a lack of clarity and consensus on what arts and culture actually mean. And when children are hungry, many policymakers consider arts and culture to be expendable, middle-class luxuries.

Hosted by Arterial Network, and implemented by the Cape Craft and Design, the African Creative Economy Conference set out to address some of these issues. The event, held at the Cape Town City Hall from 6-9 October, attracted around 400 delegates from over 40 countries in Africa and beyond. Previous conferences in Nairobi (2011) and Dakar (2012) have played a leading part in creating markets and raising the profile of Africa's artistic and cultural industries regionally and internationally.

The aim of this year's conference was to focus attention on how the continent's creative industries can play a meaningful role in accelerating Africa's economic growth, while building democracy and human rights.

"The first African Creative Economy Conference in Nairobi was about defining what the creative economy actually is. Our second conference in Dakar focused on the people who make the creative industries work. In Cape Town, we have focused on why the industries exist. Now, it is time to go out there and transform words into action," said Korkor Amarteifio, chairperson, Arterial Network, during her closing remarks at the end of the conference.

Amarteifio was joined on stage by Aadel Essaadani, deputy chairperson, Arterial Network; Monica Newton, deputy director-general of Arts, Culture and Development at the National Department of Arts & Culture; Anton Groenewald, executive director of Tourism, Events and Marketing, City of Cape Town, and Erica Elk, executive director, Cape Craft & Design Institute.

Government is a partner

"Government is a partner to the creative economy," noted Newton. "I am here because it is essential that government listens to those who are active in the sector and it is equally important that we are heard. Together, our role is to take our dialogue forward to produce results. Let's go out and live this creative economy."

Amplifying the same message, Groenewald also emphasised the importance of transforming talk into action after the conference. "Now is the time to build a single narrative out of all the different conversations we have heard over the last three days. This conference has talked at length about the importance of developing the right semantics, policies, strategies, business models, technology platforms and other support mechanisms that are essential to building a successful creative economy. But is this enough? I urge you all to go out and create the content that will actually produce the growth that we all want to see."

Bringing the event to a close, Amarteifio told delegates: "By the time we convene for our fifth conference in 2015, wherever that might be, I hope we will be celebrating the growth and success that we have achieved as a result of the conversations that we have been having at this event."

The conference sponsors included the City of Cape Town, Cape Town Partnership, Mimeta Centre for Culture and Development, Doen Foundation, Africalia, Western Cape Provincial Government, Department of Arts and Culture, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lambent Foundation, Goethe Institute, African Arts Institute, EUNIC, EU, VANSA, Arterial Network, British Council, Institut Francais, Equation Musique, SA Tourism, Creative Cape Town, Bos and Prosperis.